Body of Bangladeshi killed in Israeli drone strike returns home after nearly four months

Nearly four months after his death in southern Lebanon, the body of Bangladeshi worker Shuvo Das returned to his family in Kalaroa on the morning of his final journey home.

Das, 23, died on May 12 when an Israeli drone strike hit a vehicle carrying bread in the Jebdin area of Nabatieh district. Three Bangladeshi workers were killed at the scene. Relatives and neighbours gathered at his home in Shripatipur village to see him for the last time.

Das had travelled to Lebanon almost three years earlier, hoping to ease his family's financial hardship and bring happiness to his parents. His family sold land and cattle and took out loans to finance the journey abroad. They had placed their greatest hopes on him among their four children.

Das was the second son of Suranjan Das, a van driver, and Shikha Das, who worked at a rice mill. He wanted to free his parents from relying on his father's earnings and his mother's wages. Relatives said he hoped to repay the family's debts with his income and support them.

Kalaroa Upazila Nirbahi Officer Ariful Islam said the government provided 35,000 taka to transport Das's body after it reached Bangladesh and 50,000 taka because he was killed in the war. The bodies of Shafiqul Islam and Nahidul Islam Nahid, the two other Bangladeshi workers killed in the strike, returned on June 27. Administrative complications delayed Das's repatriation for months.